A. Strategy

• Convening stakeholders

B. Issue

• Civil rights/human rights

C. Organizational background
Founded in 1948, The San Francisco Foundation (TSFF) is one of the Bay Area's largest funders with assets of more than $800 million and a staff of more than 50. The Foundation trustees of 10 community leaders oversee all foundation activities, including policy, direction, and grantmaking. TSFF's mission is to mobilize resources and act as a catalyst for change to build strong communities, foster civic leadership, and promote philanthropy in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties. The Foundation makes approximately 4,500 grants totaling $65 million annually. As a community foundation, TSFF operates a number of donor advised funds as well as several foundation driven initiatives that are designed to influence public policy, address community issues, and support neighborhood-driven problem solving. Through its initiatives and other activities, TSFF has a history of supporting public policy efforts which address the root causes of the issues the foundation focuses on, including arts and culture, community health, education, the environment, neighborhood and community development, and social justice.

D. Project background
Proposition 54, the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin Initiative was on the October 2003 California Special Election ballot. Commonly referred to as the Racial Privacy Initiative, the proposition would have banned the state from collecting any racial or ethnic data. This ban would be applied to all governmental entities under the state, including local governments, school districts, and publicly funded health care and other service providers. TSFF staff believed that the proposition would severely interfere with the foundation's and its grantees' ability to access data critical to identifying and addressing community problems and social inequities. TSFF staff and grantees had been tracking the initiative long before it was placed on the ballot. In the early summer of 2003, a special election was set for October for the recall of then Governor Grey Davis. Instead of being listed on the March 2004 ballot as had been anticipated, Proposition 54 was moved up to the special election. As a first step-and an example of policy research and analysis as well as public education-TSFF decided to survey other foundations to see if they too felt that the proposition would limit their effectiveness. CompassPoint Nonprofit Services was contracted to conduct the survey. Findings demonstrated general agreement among California foundations that passage of Proposition 54 would seriously interfere with grantees' and foundations' ability to address community needs and target funding, programming, and resources. TSFF shared the results of the survey with its donors and with the field. Copies were made available by the Council on Foundations through Foundation News and Commentary, and Dr. Sandra Hernández, CEO of the Foundation, discussed the findings in a CNN-FN television interview. She also wrote an op-ed for the Oakland Tribune and publicized the foundation's stance against the measure on the TSFF website, www.sff.org.